Gas-engine.



PATENTED DEG. 24, 1907 A. J. SPIGER. GAS ENGINE. APPLIUATION FILED (mm2. 190e.

l IIII wifi @lvtmcooca ANDREW J.

SPI-CER, OF FRANKLIN, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR, BY-MENSE ASSIGNMENTS, OF

@NE-HALF TO ELMER C, RUSSELL, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA"v assassina.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patenteef'nec. 24, iso?.

Application filed October 22.1906. Serial No. 340.011.

To all1 'whom it may concern:

13e it known that I, ANDREW J. Spione, a citizen oi the United States, residing at Franklin, in the county of Johnson and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and g useful Improvements in Gas-Engines, oi t which the following isa specification.

The object of my invention is to produce an internal combustion engine of' the air cooled type, the construction being suoli that the cylinder will be kept perfectly cool,

The accompanying' drawings illustrate an embodiment o'i my invention, Figure 1 being a central section, and Fig. Z a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings 10 indicates the combus tion chamber oi the c vvlindei `11 which is provided at one end wit i a comparatively thin head 25 having an inlet passage 12 leading through the center thereof, said passage 1".r being of such size that it servesas a compression chamber. Mounted in cylinder 11 isa piston '22 connected by a pitnian 3T with a crank S8 of the crank shaft. Formed above the thin head Z5 and surrounding the walls of passage 12, is an annular cooling chamber 26 which is connected, atene side i of passage 12, by a pipe 27 with the crank i base 31. Leading into chamber 26 at a point diametrically opposite pipe 27 is anair inlet 4.5 provided with an inwardly opening valve 46. substantially diametrica-lly opposite pipe 27, and discharging in a direction different from the inlet end O pipe 45, is a discharge pipe liquid fuel is used. be omitted where gas fuel is used.

ther end of the stroke of the piston 22, exhaust ports .23 which lead into an exhaust. passage 24, in a well known manner.

The Operation of the device thus iur described is as iollows; downward more ment oi piston 22 draws a charge in through pipe 18 past valve 19 and through passage 12 intothe combustion chamber, and a return stroke of the piston compresses the charge within passage 12 so that it may be tired by Leading from chamber 26, at a point A carburetor 21 is connected to the pipe 18 1n any well known manner where The said carburetor may Leading i from the coinbustion chamber 1() at the lur- E are l the usual firing means, such as a spant plug 1 50. A considerable proportion of heat gen- @rated by this action is absorbed by the head 25 and walls oi the passage 12 and the upward movement oi the piston 22 draws a charge of cool, i'resh air through pipe 45 intov chamber .26 and down through pipe 27 into the crank base 31, this stream of fresh air dividing around the walls of passage 12 and cooling that side which is nearest the inlet more than the further side. 0n the downward or power stroke of the piston, however, the air which has been drawn into the crank base 31 is discharged back through pipe 27 f and chamber 26, again dividing around the walls of passage 12 -aud passing outward through the pipe 47 past valve 48 thereof, thus cooling the other side of the walls of passage 1'2 and being dischargednt a point distant from the inlet 45 so that, upon the next upward stroke ol" the piston the air which will be drawn into the pipe L15 will be fresh and cool instead of being partly com posed of the-heated air which has j'ust been discharged from pi e 17..

It is also desirab e, especially in the larger sizes, to provide means for cooling the coni- I bustioii chamber internally, and for this purpose l provide an air passage 13 which leads l into passage 12 and is guarded at its inner is an inlet passage guarded by an inwardly' opening valve 16, and leading from said pasly sage 12% is a discharge passage guarded by an outwardly opening valvl 17, said inlet`and outlet passages heilig divergent so that 'the supply drawn in through vulve 16 will not be composed in part of the most recently ex hnustcd gases passimr outward through valve 17. ln order to operaie vulve 14; I provide a lever 4U, one end of/which is adapted to engage the siem of valve 14 while the other end is arranged in the path of movement oi the pin 41 carried bythe shnit oi a sprocket wheel 4f. driven from the crank shni'r, ns shown` the :ii-rangement being such that every other revolution oi yl/he crunk shaft will cause :i rwiprocntion of lever -itl which will serve to open valve 1.1.

'lhe operation oi" this mechanism is as iollows: With the parts in position, ns shown in l the drawing, :i suction stroke of the piston has just been aecomplishgd sothat nn upward stroke of the piston will produce a compression. At the end of the explosion stroke a portion of the spent gases will be discharged in the usual manner through the exhaust ports 23 and just as said exhaust ports are uncovered pin 41 will come into engagement with lever so as to open valve 14, and there will be at this point, due to the movement of the spent'gases through the exhaust ports 23, a slight inrush of air past valve 14. This valve 14 is held open during the next upward stroke of the piston so that all of the spent gases are driven out through passage 13 and past valve 16. If the speed of the engine is normal the valve will be closed just prior to the next downward stroke of the piston but if the speed be too high a lever 44 operated by a speedfcontrolled governor (not shown), will be thrown into the path of movement of the lever 40 so as to hold it against closure during the next downward andu ward stroke of the piston so that a charge o air, instead of fuel, will be drawn in past valve 16 through passage 13 to the combustion chamber, thus cooling said chamber and thoroughly {lushing same, said air charge being entirely free from the recently discharged spent gases which have passed valve 17.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a gas engine, the combination, with a combustion chamber having asmaller tubular extension, and a piston mounted in said chamber, of a cooling chamber surrounding the tubular extension, said cooling chamber having a valved inlet and outlet communicating with said chamber at one side of the tubular extension, and a passage forming a communication between that side of .the piston opposite the combustion chamber and the cooling chamber at that side ofthe tubular extension opposite the inlet and outlet, wherea cooling stream' of air is propelled in a ternately .opposite directions through the cooling chamber, said coolinV stream of'air y the tubular extension.

2. In a gas engine, the combination, with a cylinder having a smallertuhular extension,

` and a piston 4mounted in said cylinder dividing the same into 'a combustion chamber communicating with the tubular extension, and a circulation chamber, of a cooling chamber surrounding the tubular extension and having an inlet and outlet communicating with said cooling chamber at one sideof the tubular extension, a passage extending from the cooling chamber, at a point on the other side of the tubular extension, to the circulation chamber, a fuel inlet leading into the combustion chamber, `an air inlet leading into the combustion chamber, a normally closed valve arranged in said air inlet, and means for alternately openingsaid last mentioned valve intermittently, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a gas engine, the combination, with a cylinder having a smaller tubular extension, i

and a piston mounted in said cylinder dividing the same into a combustion chamber communicating with the tubular extension, and a circulation chamber, of a cooling chamber surrounding the tubular extension andy having an inlet and outlet provided with suitable valves and havin their outer ends at separated points, said lnlet and outlet com municating with said cooling chamber at one side of the tubular extension, apassage extending from the cooling chamber, at a point on the other side of the tubular extension, to the circulation chamber, a fuel inlet leading into the combustion chamber, an air inlet leading into the combustion chamber, a normally closed valve arranged in said air inlet,

means for opening said last mentioned valve intermittently, said air inlet passage having valved inlet and outlet branches with outer ends separated, substantially as -and for the purpose set-forth.

In witness whereof, I, have hereunto set my hand and seat at Indianapolis, Indiana,

this 18 day of October, A. D, one' thousand nine hundred and six.

ANDREW J. SPICER. Witnesses: ,A

ARTHUR M. Hoon, v THoMAs W. MCMEANS. 

